


Antidote

by spacedaydreamer



Series: safe end!vlr au [8]
Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Fandom
Genre: Gen, a bit on the shorter side, but; it was still a fun one, just your average r6 reactions, not much in terms of warnings outside the usual, safe end!junpei au, safe end!vlr au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 11:30:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11668248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedaydreamer/pseuds/spacedaydreamer
Summary: The room behind the green door was proving to be interesting, but it was only raising more questions- questions that Junpei wasn't sure would ever get a true answer.





	Antidote

“Fine then, Dio! You’re coming with us.”

Sigma waited for no further response, running off towards the red door with Dio following behind. Junpei turned to Alice and K, and the three of them all ran in unison off towards the green door.

There was no discussion when they went through, all of them reaching a room with three doors and a lever. Alice took the lead, pulling it- and they found themselves being led into a an empty-ish room, filled with machines and one solitary robot- or what he _assumed_ to be a robot- sitting on the table in the center.

“That a cousin of yours?”

Junpei turned to look at K with a smirk, who only seemed to sigh.

“Please, don’t joke around about this. I don’t _want_ to have this armor on…”

“Are we _really_ sure that it’s armor? I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“…” He could hear another sigh through the helmet, and the taller man folded his arms. “For a moment, let’s presume that I _am_ a robot. Why would Zero add someone so obviously suspicious to his game? Not only do I look like _this_ , but I also have no memories. Anyone would assume that I’m not to be trusted- and furthermore, it would be easy to assume that I am allied with Zero. Would it not be far smarter to have a robot who looks, thinks, and acts like a human? If you were going to implement a mole, the smartest plan would be for your mole to be indiscernible from the other participants.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought a lot about this.”

“In all honesty, I expected to be using that speech against Dio…”

Junpei laughed, and Alice seemed to smirk just a little bit.

“In that case, how would you make a robot that looks just like a human? Is that even possible, yet?”

“Have you not heard of ABT- artificial biological tissue? It’s used in prosthetics most commonly, but it’s possible to be used in other applications.”

“And why do you know so much about it?”

“I… don’t know. Perhaps I worked with it, before I lost my memory?”

Alice rolled her eyes and shrugged, waving off the conversation.

“Well, it’s hardly important. Let’s just find our way out of this room, why don’t we?”

K didn’t seem to think that his amnesia was “hardly important”, but clearly didn’t have a good enough counter-argument. Besides, all of them wanted to get out of this shelter- it just made sense.

Solving the puzzles in the room went smoothly, except for a moment when all of them panicked just a little bit as they seemingly released an entire army of robots. Still, they were all offline or something- in all honesty, if they hadn’t been stuck here, then Junpei would’ve wanted to take a look at them. Not just for parts, but also just because of pure curiosity for what was inside them. The moon might’ve been a pain, and he might’ve hated most of their technology- but he’d spent most of his life fixing things. He was allowed to be curious.

They were headed out of the room after finding the key, and a strange plug item that none of them recognized, when they were all stopped in their tracks by something that could’ve never been expected.

“Now, just ‘old up there, guvner.”

Junpei looked around, blinking- It clearly wasn’t K or Alice, so who…?

“Right over ‘ere. Behind you.”

He turned, and- what the _hell?!_ That robot that they’d previously been ignoring had just turned himself on, and was now just… chatting. Just chatting like nothing was wrong at all, with a… was that cockney? It’d been a pretty damn long time for him, so he wasn’t sure, but it certainly wasn’t an American accent at the very least.

“I’m sorry, but what the hell _are_ you?”

“Now, that’s just right rude, it is. Couldn’t you tell just by lookin’ at me? I’m a GAULEM.”

“….Golem?”

The ‘GAULEM’ shook his head at Alice’s pronunciation, waving his hand.

“No, _GAULEM_. It’s an acronym, stands for General-purpose Autonomous-control Labor Electronic Machine. Bit of a mouthful, innit?”

None of them quite had a good response for the ‘gaulem’, so it was Junpei who eventually had to speak up.

“So, uh… Gaulem-“

“Now wait right there. That’s a bit rude, wouldn’t you think? I wouldn’t go around calling you lot _human_ , now would I?”

“Then, what do you want us to call you by?”

“Well… I’ve got a product ID code! GTM-CM-G-OLM, just call me that.”

“That’s _way_ too long!”

“Well then, just use the last bit. G-OLM.”

“That… that’s just pronounced golem…” Junpei sighed heavily, shaking his head. “Well, anyways, G-OLM, why did you tell us to hold up?”

“Because, it’s been ages since I’ve gotten a chance to have a right proper conversation. I swear, I was stuck on that bench for so long that I right buggered my shoulders. I feel about as stiff as you look there, Tenmyouji.”

K finally spoke up at that, raising his hands up to his mouth to show surprise.

“Now, how would you know of his name? And, how could your shoulders possibly hurt, if you’re a robot?”

“Oh, I know all of you lot’s names, K. And you too, Alice. In fact, I know the names of all of you in this ‘game’. As for my shoulders, they’re _hurtin_ because my body’s telling me not to move my arms like this. It’s no different than you lot- if you pull a right boneheaded move, doesn’t your brain tell your body to knock it off, before you hurt yourself? It’s the same for me.”

“But, you’re… a robot.”

“How’m I sure that you’re _not?_ ”

“Th-That’s-“

“Ah, I’m just messin’ with ya. You ain’t a robot, I’d be able to tell that much. Y’see, all our brains are hooked up to the central computer. We do our thinking and processing there, and then it sends signals to our bodies.”

“I see… but, I still don’t think it’s quite the same. After all, humans do their thinking in their brains.”

“You certain ‘bout that?”

Again K seemed to be surprised. Alice looked equally confused- but before he could stop himself, Junpei spoke up.

“An old friend told me something along those lines once, actually. ‘What if human thought isn’t housed in the human brain, but rather, the brain is like a wireless monitor?’ Her explanation was a touch on the longer side, but to sum it up… she proposed the idea that perhaps the consciousness is housed on another plane, one that we huamns can’t perceive. We assume that thought is carried out in the brain, because when we stimulate certain parts, or remove or damage certain parts, other things stop responding- but we haven’t considered the possibility that it may just be our monitors that are damaged. Amnesia was explainable in her theory in the same way… perhaps it’s not the _brain_ that’s truly damaged, but rather, it’s that your brain isn’t able to access that field anymore. K, it’s possible that the reason you’re an amnesiac is just that… well, the monitor is damaged. Things like face blindness- prosopagnosia- were explainable in that way as well.”

K said nothing, and Alice just stared at him, blinking. After a few moments of incredibly awkward silence, he spoke up again.

“I-I mean, it’s not like I _believe_ that crap. She didn’t believe it either, it’s just fun to think about conspiracy theories from time to time. You really shouldn’t take me so seriously.”

“Y-Yeah… right…”

Alice and K both let out little sighs- perhaps he’d gotten a bit too intensive there? Ah, well, he remembered being just as weirded out when Hazuki first told _him_ that- maybe it was just the role of old people in nonary games to freak out the kids.

Not that either of them were kids, but he was old. Everyone looked like a kid to him.

“Well, you more or less covered my explanation. Takin’ all the fun outta this, aren’t you?”

“I’m sure you’ll have plenty more chances. Maybe Sigma will stop by, I’m sure he’d love to listen to you ramble.”

“Now, that’d be a right treat! It’d be right amusing to have a chat with the y-“

“ROGUE PROCESS DETECTED. ROGUE PROCESS DETECTED. PRODUCT ID: GTM-CM-G-OLM. COMMENCING TERMINATION PROCESS.”

The sudden voice was harsh and loud, and a shower of sparks sprayed from G-OLM’s back as he was suddenly electrocuted. None of them could react fast enough, only blinking in shock when fire erupted from his back and he fell forwards onto the floor.

“Science Boy… not again…”

“…Tenmyouji?”

“You still had so much left ahead of you… Oh, Science Boy… You may not have been a real man, but I always thought of you as kin……”

“Tenmyouji, his name was G-OLM.”

“To lose another friend in such a tragic way… when will this world _learn?!_ ”

“….are you just fucking with us right now?”

Junpei gave Alice a cheeky grin, prompting her to sigh heavily. With a shrug, he moved once more for the door- hey, at least _this_ science boy hadn’t set the whole room on fire. That was a step up.

They rushed from the room in a hurry, running back to the elevator in hopes that they’d run into the others quickly- and they almost ran smack into the others. They quickly exchanged information, but… it was no good. No Axelavir in the laboratory _or_ in the rec room, by the sounds of it…

“Hey, why don’t we all take a look? Tenmyouji, Sigma, Nona, we can check out the rec room. I’ll admit, I’m a bit curious.”

It was strange to hear Dio eager to actually _do_ something, but Junpei wasn’t going to argue. He followed him into the room, and they all began investigating. It was as normal as one would’ve expected, but… Junpei couldn’t help but wonder. There was something _off_ about Sigma and Nona. Well, he _expected_ that from Sigma, but Nona? No, it didn’t really add up. There was something that they weren’t telling him… Nona kept biting her lip, and Sigma’s eye continued to shift from side to side.

The investigation continued in relative silence, until Junpei noticed a mini fridge. There was something nagging at his mind, something telling him to investigate it. He eventually obliged to find… Luminol?

_“You’re off the hook, then.”_

_“Carlos, please. You’re making no sense, you need to explain this to me.”_

_“…The old man. He was supposed to have a bracelet, but it got stolen.”_

_“The… old man?”_

_“Yeah. Your bracelet’s a part of your suit, there’s no way in hell you could be the killer. Unless you’re lying about not being to take that off, of course.”_

_“Carlos, why would I lie? You can attempt to remove the helmet yourself, if you’d like.”_

_“Exactly.” Junpei looked off to the side. “Anyways, he was supposed to be a participant, like us. Whoever killed him will have blood on their bracelet.”_

Junpei blinked for just a moment, before quickly grabbing a bottle and hiding it behind his back.

“Hey, guys? Could you… could you come over here for a moment?”

“Why…?”

“Just get over here, Sigma. All of you.”

With a mutual roll of the eyes, the three others in the room gathered in front of him. With speed that was surprising for a man of his age, he quickly whipped his arm out and sprayed all of their bracelets- then, he sprayed his own, just for good measure. Without saying a word (and ignoring their surprised shouts), he quickly made for the lightswitch that he shouldn’t have known was there, and flipped it off. Then, he walked back with the same speed, and looked.

“Alright, wrists up again.”

“Seriously? What the hell are you doing, man?”

“Just _do it_. Here, I’ll hold mine up.”

After a moment, Sigma and Nona both obliged. He wasn’t surprised to find that their bracelets were both clean… he knew, and yet he couldn’t know. There had to be some esper bullshit going on here…

“Dio, you too.”

“Wh-What the hell? No way, man.”

“Just _do it_ , Dio.”

“No! Why should I have to? This is probably some weird _cult_ bullshit, you’re being seriously freaky-“

“I’m _trying_ to clear your name.”

“Clear my- like _hell_ you are!”

“Just _show me!_ ”

Junpei reached forwards, getting Dio to jump backwards. His arm sweeped up when he moved, but the glow was there- Junpei’s glare darkened, and he felt his heart begin to cloud with hatred.

“It _was_ you. You… you _bastard!_ ”

“Tenmyouji, what are you _talking_ about?”

Sigma was clearly confused, but Junpei didn’t even bother looking at him.

“Dio killed the old man. His wrist- there was a gap in the blood on his wrist. The bloody bracelet is the one that belonged to him… which means _Dio_ killed him.”

“…So? What’re you gonna do?”

“I’m gonna knock your fucking ass flat, and _kill you_ you goddamn  _bastard!_ ”

“You… might not wanna do that.” Despite the clear disadvantage, Dio seemed confident. In fact, it was after a moment that Junpei realized neither Nona or Sigma were moving to help him, _or_ stop him- why? “Listen, you old fuck. I’m only gonna say this once, so you’d better listen carefully. _I have the axelavir_. If you take a single step closer to me… I break it. You move, and Quark dies.”

“You… you _coward_ …”

“I just like to think of myself as crafty. Now, do you understand what’s happening here? Really… I think you should have a nap.”

“Wh-“

Before Junpei could react, he felt Dio’s fist slam into his stomach. He doubled over in pain, and then felt something heavy on the back of his head before passing out.

* * *

When Junpei woke up, he found himself staring at the ceiling in the infirmary. The first face he saw was Nona, staring at him in concern.

“Tenmyouji? Oh thank god, you’re awake!”

“…Nona? What… _where’s Dio?_ What happened, did you get the-“

“We… we got the axelavir. But, Dio…” She sighed, and looked down. “He and K escaped. I trust that K will come back for us, but Dio… he’s definitely long gone by now.”

“I… see.”

Junpei let out a heavy sigh, looking around the room. It was him, Nona, Sigma, and Quark, but the latter two were unconscious. Sigma’s left arm looked like it’d been amputated- what the fuck had happened?!

“Nnn….”

Junpei’s head turned when Sigma started to groan, sitting up. After a moment, Alice, Phi, and Luna showed up- it seemed like K had punched Alice to knock her out, and because _he’d_ been unconscious as well… well, it’d been an easy three points for him.

Go figure.

They all spoke for a while, Junpei watching Quark’s unconscious body. He looked so small when he slept like that… but he was safe. He was alive, and he was _safe_ , and that was all that mattered.

After some time, the subject then turned to Sigma’s arms. It seemed as though they were fakes, made of cybernetics and ABT. Was he like Light had been, then? Or perhaps, it was something else, like those GAULEMs… but either way, Junpei felt like he could trust Sigma. No matter which percent of him was human, he’d shown that he was worth trusting- he’d let himself get betrayed for the sake of saving Quark, after all. Even in the extreme chance that he was a 'mole' like K had described, he'd still put his life at risk.

“Sigma… thank you. Honestly, I mean it. From the bottom of my heart… thank you.”

“..Tenmyouji?”

“Quark is all I have left. I don’t know what I would’ve done if he’d died like that as well…”

“As well?”

He paused for a moment, and looked around. It wasn’t like there was anything left to hide… not now, not when the game was already over.

“That virus… radical-6… it resulted in six billion people dying. I’ve seen countless people die from it, killing themselves in countless ways- it’s a _terrible_ virus, and it’s horrifically infectious. The world didn’t stand a chance without an antidote.”

“Hold up a moment. Tenmyouji, what are you _saying?_ There’s no way that’s all happened- at _most,_ we were kidnapped a week ago!” Nona put her hands on her hips, staring at him as though she didn’t entirely believe what she was saying. “The world couldn’t possibly die in just a handful of days. We would’ve heard about something like that.”

“Well, that’s because-“

Junpei _wanted_ to explain, but it would seem that he’d never get the chance. While they’d been distracted, Alice had picked up the scalpel- raising it up into the air, then down towards her chest.

“N-No…. _no_ … _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!_ ”

He wasn’t sure who was speaking, but all he was aware of was his world turning dark as Alice collapsed to the ground, screams ringing in his ears as he fell unconscious.

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaah, Quark's ending. It's probably the most abrupt of all the endings in the game- Sigma doesn't even die, he just kinda... stops. Regardless though, I'm happy to get this one done! The next fic is one I'm very much excited for, another of the big three I had in mind while getting the idea to do this... You've probably got a good enough guess of which one it is already by now, but I'm not gonna spoil it just in case, haha.
> 
> I wanted to be sure to get this one out today, because I'm actually going on a short vacation starting tomorrow! I'll probably bring my 3ds so I'll have plenty of zero escape to keep me company- who's up for a third round through ZTD?
> 
> Anyways, thanks as always for reading! Every kudos and comment means the world to me, I'm so glad you've all been enjoying these fics. Until next time!


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